


Stars Through a Mirror

by Krasimer



Series: Don't Take My Sunshine Away [9]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Amnesiac Soldier: 76, D.Va dies but she gets better, I keep making everything a little bit gay, Lena has issues, M/M, Made illegal to use in battles because the fighting would literally never end, Reaper is a walking nightmare made of smoke and glowing red eyes, Respawn as a training tool, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7545745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Can you get up there and distract her?"</p><p>"S'what I do best, Luv," she nodded and zipped away, a thin trail of blue light her only mark. Her voice echoed back over the comm, "Widowmaker's on the roof! I repeat, Widowmaker's on the roof! I'm heading up to intercept 'er, so I'll thank you not to shoot me on sight fellas!"</p><p>Two voices responded in agreement as Jack hurried forward.</p><p>Turning the last corner, his rifle held at the ready, he was prepared to see almost anything. Even if his team had been there waiting for him, he wouldn't have been all that surprised. He was thorough, attempting to flush an entire city of a Talon-based infection.</p><p>What he did see nearly made him drop his weapon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars Through a Mirror

"Alright, we got this, we got this," Lúcio muttered as he skated along behind D.Va and her mech, whipping down and around to clear the way for Soldier: 76. "Just gotta feel the beat, keep moving."

"We can do this!" Hana reminded him cheerily, grinning at him for once instead of into her camera. For this particular battle she hadn't set up her livestream, had chosen to leave her fans out of it. "If we work together, we can do this. We just have to make sure we all survive."

"Oh you know that's right," Lúcio laughed back at her as he spun on one skate, blasting their way through a small wall of Talon agents. "Dad 76 needs us to help him out here, even if he just wants to barrel on through recklessly. What do you say we run through some games after this? I'll play my new mix for you, all special and new. No one else has heard it yet," his grin was a little sly and he could almost feel her eye roll. "I'll bring some of those chips you found the other week, the weird ones you liked."

Hana laughed, turning to fire. "It's a deal!"

 

xXx

 

Jack growled as he slammed his full body weight into a Talon agent, forcing the man's head against the wall with a sickening thud. 

He could feel the difference now, could just about remember the changes between his fighting style now and how it had been before. Headache still squeezing his forehead like a vice, he let himself breathe for a moment before continuing. 

"Oi!" a somewhat familiar voice chirped over the comm line. "Need any 'elp, luvs? Seems like a bit of a mess you got 'ere!"

"Tracer!" someone called back to her.

Jack fired off his pulse rocket, taking down a formation of agents closing in on him. "Backup would be appreciated," he grumbled into his comm. "Trying to get to the middle of the city, meet up with Reyes at the center of destruction. You stopped to meet with Winston?"

"Yeah, we both did. Reinhardt's only a li'l bit behind me, should be catching up any moment. Where are you?" 

"Third and Wren, by the fountain square."

"See you in a minute luv, just gotta get there. Suppose it's too late to tell you to 'old tight, ain't it?"

"Yes," he took off running, dropping down between an agent's legs and sliding under him and he fired. The enemy agent flew into the air, coming down to land on his head. He didn't move after that. "Too crowded in the streets. What are the skies like?"

"They are," he heard Pharah respond tersely, "A little too crowded as well."

Above him he could hear the faint sound of an explosion. "Is it something you can handle?" he asked, pausing for the shortest of seconds. "Or do we need to send in some backup?"

"I've got her," Mercy responded this time. "Focus on getting to Reyes."

Tracer arrived in a streak of electric blue, her eyes wide as she stuttered to a halt and waved. "'Allo Soldier, 'ow'ya doin'?" when he nodded in greeting she just grinned, then looked around. "What say we knock these ones out and move on?"

"Good," he grunted as he pressed the heel of one hand into his temple. 

Fuck, but this migraine wasn't letting up.

His vision behind his visor was going weird, everything pulsing randomly. The formerly straight lines of buildings were beginning to fluctuate like waves meeting the shore. 

"Luv, you alright?"

He met her eyes and nodded, pushing the pain away for now. This had to be done, he had to make it through this. For both Reyes and his own sake, he had to do this. "I'm fine," he lied, gesturing for her to follow as he took off towards an approaching group of black-clad Talon agents that were hurrying towards them. "We can do this is we just be careful about it."

"We've got this!" she answered him, her cheer rising with every step she took.

 

xXx

 

"Y'know," McCree huffed out as he stumbled across a rooftop. "I ain't one fer all this climbin', darlin'."

Hanzo looked back at him over his shoulder, a faint smirk on his face. "I offer my apologies," he said, his tone teasing. "We must cover the above areas and our fighting styles are suited to one another. There is no better compliment to my aim than your bullets."

McCree's face flushed, his feet flailing under him for a moment as he pressed his robotic arm to his chest. "Was that flirtin' I heard? Well bless my soul, darlin', yer becomin' a regular Casanova."

"I assure you it was not," Hanzo stifled a laugh as he nocked an arrow and let it fly. "You must be having medical trouble."

"Ain't such a thing, I know I'm all fine. You were flirtin' with li'l ol' me," McCree spun and fired a shot behind them, nodding in satisfaction as the agent that had been pursuing them dropped to the roof he'd been running on. "Makes a man's heart go all a flutter like I'm a blushing schoolgirl. You wanna flirt some more, I'd be willin' to be your trainin' fer it."

The samurai's lips were definitely curled into a smile now. "You can flirt on the job if you can keep up," he warned as he rushed forward and dropped down onto the next level.

"I'll take that challenge, Darlin'!" McCree called after him, sprinting towards the walkway formed by a connected roof between the buildings. A shot fired over his head, brushing his hat, made him tuck into a roll, coming up with his gun pointed. When he was up and recovered, his Peacekeeper aimed at the attacker, he discovered a corpse where the threat had been. "Hey," he called into his comm. "We got anyone on our six out here?"

"No," Pharah's voice was just as calm and steady as usual, even when he knew the fighting had to be taking its toll on her. "Is something wrong, do you need me to bring backup to you?"

"Nah," Jesse felt a shiver run down his spine. "Think we're good, just got a little case a' the jitters," He clicked off the comm, turning slowly to continue chasing after Hanzo. "Abuela used to say it was someone walkin' over yer grave, that's all."

 

xXx

 

He hadn't felt his dragon this excited in ages, it seemed like.

Genji jumped over a gap between rooftops, flicking his wrist out to catch a Talon agent in the gut with his sword. Across the way he could see his brother and it made a part of him nearly overwhelmingly gleeful. They were working together again, the bridge between them scorched and scarred but unbroken.

Near him he could feel the presence of Zenyatta, his master following along at a lower level.

They could do this, they could do this. He could feel the strength of his dragon, could tell it was as excited as he was to see this through. He remembered the tail end of Blackwatch, remembered working only briefly with McCree and Reyes. Their time had been short, their fates failing to align for any longer, but it had been good.

Now he could feel their strength.

His own soul was thrumming inside of him, he could feel Zenyatta's doing the same. They worked together, far better than he had ever worked with anyone else.

This was possible.

 

xXx

 

Lúcio laughed as he dropped to the ground, the soundwaves from his equipment knocking an enemy back.

"Man, we got this!" he celebrated quickly, turning to deal with the next threat. "Yo, D.Va, how're you doing over there?" he skated towards her, slipping between the trees. He could see pieces of her mech on the ground. "Oh no, no no no girl, where you at?"

How had he missed the self-destruct going off?

Over the noise of the fighting around him, he could hear a groan coming from behind another tree and it made his heart stutter. Moving as fast as he could, he circled around it, finding Hana on the ground with a hand clutching at her stomach. "Hey, Hana, look at me, okay?"

She laughed, a small smile put on just for a moment before it was gone. "Area clear, I'll be okay. just like training, right?"

"We're set for this, you'll be okay," Lúcio shook his head, curling his hand around one of hers. "See you on the flipside, try not to get hurt again, alright?" he waited until she nodded, then nodded back. "You take care of yourself, make it back to me as fast as possible, got it? Need my hyper rabbit out there with me."

She gave him a weak thumbs up before her eyes closed.

It took a second, Lúcio sending out prayers to every god he had ever heard of, but the Respawn kicked in when her heart stopped. Her body and the pieces of her mech disappeared, hauled off by the tech they depended on so often during training. "Good luck girl, come find me," he whispered, taking off for the shelter of an alley as a hail of bullets started to rain down on him. "We got one down," he called into the comm line. "Winston, you hear me? Hana and her mech, should be showin' up on your end of things. Please tell me that girl is alright!"

"She is here!" Winston confirmed after a moment, his voice crackling across the line. 

"Good," Lúcio laughed, spinning around on his skates and firing a sonic blast at his attackers. "Make sure she's okay and send her back out, this game's no fun without her!"

He flipped into the main comm channel, already grinning as he kept moving. "Yo, everyone, we got a positive on the Respawn working outside of training. Try not to stray too far from it and we'll see how this goes! I know you're used to it, so don't panic, remember to breathe, and in the event of a death, get Winston to tell everyone where you are! I'd say think of it like a training exercise, but, well," he lifted his amplifier up, blasting several men back at once before nodding to the beat of the music he had playing in one ear. 

"That might make things a little bit weird."

 

xXx

 

"Jack, Jack, wait!"

He skidded to a stop, turning to face Lena. "What?"

"I think we're close, but I also think we might be in a bit more danger. Up on the rooftop," she jerked her chin, her eyes narrowing. "I see Widowmaker an' that means trouble. If she's 'ere, we need to be careful."

He followed her line of sight, spotting the assassin on the roof. His visor zoomed in on her face and he faltered. "I know her, why-"

"She was ours, once. Good friend, 'ad a husband," Lena cleared her throat. "'ad a husband named Gerard. She was kidnapped for a few weeks, wiped clean off a' the map. When she turned back up, she seemed fine," Lena ran a hand through her hair. "We all thought she was until Gerard was found dead in their 'ome, her ring left on the table next to his."

"Kidnapped by who?"

"Talon got 'er," Lena made a face, anger flashing through her eyes. "They took their 'appy marriage and made 'er a murderer."

"Can you get up there and distract her?"

"S'what I do best, Luv," she nodded and zipped away, a thin trail of blue light her only mark. Her voice echoed back over the comm, "Widowmaker's on the roof! I repeat, Widowmaker's on the roof! I'm heading up to intercept 'er, so I'll thank you not to shoot me on sight fellas!"

Two voices responded in agreement as Jack hurried forward.

Turning the last corner, his rifle held at the ready, he was prepared to see almost anything. Even if his team had been there waiting for him, he wouldn't have been all that surprised. He was thorough, attempting to flush an entire city of a Talon-based infection.

What he did see nearly made him drop his weapon.

Reyes stood in front of him, dressed once more in the sort of outfit he'd been wearing when they'd first talked face-to-face. His own face was uncovered, his eyes dark, the centers a bloody sort of red as he stared at Jack. Clawed gloves that seemed almost to be a part of his hands flexed with the muscles underneath them, a dangerous threat even from this far away. He didn't speak, just continued to watch Jack's every move.

When Jack stepped forward, his mouth opened in a teeth-baring silent snarl.

It made him sick to his stomach, the wires wrapped around his teeth holding his jaw shut. Like this, he wasn't _able_ to talk and Jack almost lost what little he had eaten before the fighting had started.

Smoke seeped out from the gaps, flooded out from his nose and rose off his exposed skin.

Gabriel Reyes had been turned into the worst sort of nightmare. When he moved it seemed to take a minute for his legs to figure out how to work again, seemed to be that he was made mostly of smoke from the waist down.

"They had you for eight hours," Jack growled, his grasp on his weapons going tight, his knuckles pale underneath his gloves. "They sure didn't waste any time."

The wordless snarl that answered had him backing up a step.

It turned out to be a useless motion as Reaper took to the sky, baring down on him and forcing his rifle out of his hands. Clawed hands grappled with his wrists, one sliding to his neck and curling tightly around it. The scent of blood filled the air as he squeezed, growling even louder when Jack struggled.

A motion of impatient anger had Jack's head slamming against the ground.

He slipped into the relief of unconscious darkness quickly, his migraine finally silenced.

 

xXx

 

"Well, what do we 'ave 'ere?" Lena bent at the waist, mimicking the motions of leaning on a counter. 

Widowmaker barely even spared her a glance, instead choosing to slip a hand underneath the edge of her bodysuit, her arms shaking as she did. "Allez-vous en, Lena, now is not the time for your foolish jokes. There is something far more important at hand, leave me be," she hissed unhappily, pulling something out and sliding it into the chamber of the gun set up on the edge of the rooftop. Her normal weapon was off to one side, not far from her reach, but she never put a hand on it.

"Important?" Lena frowned. "What's got you, then?"

Yellow-green eyes stared up at her for a moment as their owner fumbled slightly, her hands still shaking. "I 'ave a mission," she gritted the words out. Her jaw was clenched, a drop of sweat rolling down her face. "There is something I must do."

"I'm not going to let you kill my teammates, luv,"

"Chérie, you need to understand," Widowmaker shook her head, her hair flipping around behind her. "There is a shot that needs to be made, I need to make it before anything else goes _wrong_ -"

She was cut off as the barrel of the Peacekeeper was pressed into the back of her head. "Sorry darlin', ain't gonna let you make that shot if I can help it."

"You-" she snarled, pressing her face into her hands, her entire body trembling, "You imbecile, this must be done or there will be a death that no member of Overwatch would be glad for!" she gestured to the courtyard that lay below them, a frown on her lips. "Use your eyes, cowboy, there is more at stake than you would like."

McCree followed her motions with his eyes, keeping his gun trained on her. "Wha- Oh, that ain't good," he muttered.

"Luv, what's 'appening down there?"

"Reyes and Morrison are fighting," he turned back to Widowmaker. "What are you shooting?"

Her chin raised defiantly, her eyes glancing behind him to see Hanzo's arrow aimed for her heart. "I listen when they do not think that I do," she began, her voice just as shaky as the rest of her body. "Even when they think I am sleeping, I listen. A spider sits in the middle of a web, after all, and I must be aware of what is 'appening around me."

She motioned again, towards her gun. "When I 'eard of them holding onto an antidote for what they 'ave done to your friend, I knew it was necessary to take it. Once it gets into 'is system, he will be back the the man he was before this mess began again. A few," she licked her lips, still watching the arrow ready to fly into her chest. "A few more memories he will find distasteful, but back to 'ow he was."

McCree frowned at her, slowly withdrawing his weapon and sliding it back into its holster. "Why should we trust you?"

"I am selfish," she smirked at him. "I saw the way the Reaper looked at the Soldier. If I cannot feel that warmth, he must feel it in my stead. If there is a way for him to feel warmth from another's heart he must feel it."

Lena swallowed nervously, looked at Hanzo first, then McCree, then nodded. "Take the shot," she whispered. "If we don't do somethin', that fight is goin' on forever."

"...She is right," Hanzo agreed, his stance relaxing as he watched the fighting down below. "I believe that the Soldier is in danger. Reyes appears to have the upper hand in their clash, action must be taken now to prevent a wrongful end."

Propping herself back up on her knees in front of her gun, Widowmaker nodded. "I will make this quick," she promised. "This will end."

She pulled the trigger.

 

xXx

 

Zarya rounded a corner, her chest heaving as she ran. "This is the center," she called behind her. "We must create the blockade here, seal this in."

Running along behind her, her blaster out and a grin on her face, Mei nodded. "I will!" she called back, setting up her equipment to create a wall of ice to form behind them. "We are ready, the wall will form in five, four, three, two..." she trailed off, nodding approvingly as she put her hands on her hips. "The wall is secure," she informed Zarya, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "Zarya, do you see- Zarya?"

The taller woman was standing just ahead of her, her jaw dropped and her cannon held loosely in her hands.

"Zarya, talk to me!" Mei rushed over to her, one hand extended to wrap around her wrist. "Please, talk to me!"

"That is..." Zarya's voice was awestruck, her eyes wide as she stared at something. "That is nightmare, it should not be here in the daylight. What is-" she looked at Mei, her mouth gaping.

Mei looked, her own eyes going wide.

It looked like a cloud of smoke, a pair of hands anchoring it to the ground. From within it came the sound of a scream, a long, drawn-out noise of utter pain and torment that tore at her own heart. "That is Reaper," she whispered. 

After a moment, her own eyes went wide as she startled, noticing something. "And that is the Soldier!" she cried out, her feet moving before her mind really caught up. She ran over to him, dropped to his side, already reaching to activate her comm. "I need a healer, we have an ally down!" she called, one hand planted in the rough texture of the road as she looked him over. 

His head was bleeding, a nasty lump of bruising forming on one side, but he was breathing.

"Soldier: 76 is down but breathing! Reaper is doing something," she heard Zarya's voice bark over the comm, relief rushing through her in an instant. "We may need backup,"

"I am on my way, my friends!" Reinhardt's oddly cheerful voice came back to them, "I will find you and I will help,"

"Just tell me where you're at, I'll be there!" Lúcio's laughter popped in a second later, "On my way, ready to heal when necessary. Keep them safe, alright?" 

Mei looked up to meet Zarya's eyes, both of them nodding to some unspoken plan. "Hurry," she added as she spotted figures dressed all in black beginning to make a path towards them from a side street. "It will be a few moments more before I can create another wall. I plan to seal all vantage points off except for one, bottleneck the enemy."

"On our way, don't you fret," McCree's voice was a relief as well. 

One by one the entire team sounded, the relief in Mei's chest growing with every familiar voice as she got to setting up the next wall in the pattern. "It is good to hear from everyone," she responded, bearing down on her blaster as it formed the thick layers of ice.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I bring the next chapter!
> 
> So a couple of people have been asking if I'm okay, if I'm taking care of myself while writing at this pace. 
> 
> The answer is yes, I am. I make sure not to push myself too hard, I sit in a comfortable position. If I start hurting, I change things around. I just happen to write quickly and intensely, especially when I listen to the right kind of music. The song currently on infinite looper for me is "Roundtable Rivals" by Lindsey Stirling. When listening to fast paced music, my fingers move to the beat. When given the right soundtrack I can write close to 10,000 words in two hours. If you want to know how this chapter felt to me, I'd suggest going to listen to that piece. 
> 
> You might want to do that anyways, it's a gorgeous song.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for your concern, and I am glad you are concerned. Enjoying something at the cost of the creator's well-being is not a good feeling. As for why I'm putting out this much story in this little amount of time, the answer is: NaNoWriMo. I do NaNo every year and I still feel like I need practice putting a coherent plot together and getting my word count up.
> 
> Alright, that's enough from me. I hope you have enjoyed this story so far, as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you want to tell me what you think, leave a comment! I love hearing from you guys and the reception this series has gotten is amazing to me. Want to yell about fandoms with me? I'm Krasimer and LookUponMyWorksYeMighty over on Tumblr.
> 
> Also: I was so tempted to end the section with Widowmaker taking the shot.


End file.
